Because of its nuclear and chemical properties, the radioisotope iodine-123 (half-life 13.2 hours) is much in demand in nuclear medicine as a radiopharmaceutical for diagnostic imaging. Commercial distribution and use of the isotope within the medical community, however, is greatly hampered because most supplies are of a product with a shelf-life of only 1-2 days after factory preparation. This limited life is brought about by the fact that the viable production reactions applied by most commercial suppliers through their compact industrial cyclotrons and other low-energy accelerators lead to a product contaminated with radioiodine impurities which increase in relative concentration with time and lead to technical problems in product use. A reliable, large-scale supply of higher purity iodine-123, manufacturable via a compact industrial cyclotron, is highly desirable to allow fuller commercial and medical exploitation of the isotope's potential.